International THE-Ranking: Bielefeld University among the TOP 20 young universities in the world

Bielefeld University is one of the world’s 20 best young universities. This is the result of the new Times Higher Education (THE) Young University Rankings, published yesterday (26/6/2019). The British academic magazine THE compares 350 universities worldwide that are not older than 50 years. Bielefeld ranks third among the German universities evaluat-ed, and second in North Rhine-Westphalia.

‘In our 50th year of existence, we rank 20th in the world. This is the best result our university has ever achieved in this ranking. My thanks go to all the members of this university who have worked so hard to accomplish this result. A highlight in our anniversary year,’ says Rector Pro-fessor Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Sagerer, delighted. Bielefeld University has been evaluated for the eighth time in succession; the best ranking so far was 22nd place in 2017.

The ranking compares universities in a variety of performance indicators grouped into five areas: research, teaching, industry income, citations and international outlook. In the cate-gory ‘research’, Bielefeld University took first place among the ranked German universities and is ranked 14th in the world.

The comparison of young universities complements the ‘World University Ranking’, in which academic reputation is weighted heavily. Long-established universities often attain better rankings than their younger rivals, which first have to gain a reputation. To better illustrate the current and future potential of these ‘rising stars’, the THE has been conducting a sepa-rate ranking since 2012. Here, less weight is given to academic reputation. Until 2016, the “Young Universities Rankings” was called “THE 150 Under 50”. In 2017, for the first time not 150 but 200 universities worldwide were included in the ranking, and in 2019 the number has risen to 351. This year, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology takes first place in the new ranking.

Bielefeld University in North Rhine-Westphalia has 25,000 students. The subjects range from the humanities to natural sciences and from social sciences to engineering sciences. A medi-cal faculty is currently being established; the first students are to be admitted here in 2021.